Hello everybody and welcome back! More like welcome myself back...It has been to long since I have done an article. I have been very busy with some behind the scene stuff you guys will be seeing on the channel later this week. Now enough with excuses and on with the article. Now lots of people and I mean lots have been messaging me about the meta, this is a very deep conversation that can get side tracked quickly. I figured I would do a series of articles because there is no way to sum it up in one article or one video. Now I will be doing a video on blue decks in particular later this week, but this series of articles are going to go more depth with helping YOU in YOUR meta. The name of this article is attacking the meta, so I am going to be helping you understand your meta. That may not seem like a way to attack it but to be honest it is a very large piece of the pie. It is where I begin all my thoughts about a deck long before I even pick up cards. This article will be more of me asking you questions, questions you need to ask yourself before moving to the next stage which is deck building. WHAT?? I just cant build? Nope! This is not Fortnite and that wont get you there with this game. First we have to ask ourselves some questions starting with, what are the most powerful cards? Weird way to start but here me out. The best cards are not just based on raw power level but how they best suit the meta. Insert press the advantage here. The card on paper is good, but if you and your opponent are both playing autobots it is just a fishable +2, however if your opponent is playing decepticons, now it is a fishable +4 and that makes a massive difference. Next question is what is everyone doing? Bold? Tough? Pierce? Burn? Control? Aggro?
How fast are games? Are you dead turn 6? Are you dead turn 11? How many different decks are there? Dinobots, Insecticons, Bold Nemesis, Cars, Metroplex, Shockwave, Prime, Lionizer mix, ect. What are the most powerful things people are doing? Reckless charge, Grenade Launcher on Arcee? Remove your hand by turn 3 with Shockwave? See told you, lots of questions (and there are more to come). All of these questions are important because you need to know what you are up against before you can even build to fight it. Also when you are pondering these questions you will being to see things you might not have thought about before, or not realized what your opponents plan was to begin with. There is one motto I always remember when playing/building. You cant always have better cards than your opponent because they have access to the same cards. So sometimes you have to use cards to break up what they are doing, cards like espionage or ramming speed are good examples of these cards because they do not help you advance but they slow/stop what your opponent wants to do. One of if not the best question is WHO IS THE ENEMY? It doesn't really matter if Dinobots is a deck if no one plays them in your area! So who is it you play against?? Lets say its Insecticons or Superion, the best way to beat them is with narrow or focused answers. You usually beat them by playing something unfair like Major Shockwave or you and your opponent throw cards back and forth with each other until you win with advantage. Understanding what your opponent is capable of is super important information, lets say you want to run a Plane deck. What good does your deck do when on turn 3 your opponent is playing reckless charge and grenade launcher on Arcee and swinging at your main character? Answering these questions will help you begin to think about what character cards you can and should run. Remember there is a difference between can and should. Can is for your local game nights and kitchen table, should is for big events like PAX and your Energon Invitationals.
This leads me into my next piece of the pie, end game and no I am not talking about Avengers end game. Next question to ask yourself is, what is the best end game? How do people win? The answer is two-fold and one I learned a long time ago in magic. Are you faster or bigger than your opponent? Now faster is a simple explanation, you win before your opponenet with fast cards like double orange pips, weapons and bold. However bigger is a deeper answer, bigger for me is you plan is so good they cannot beat you or recover in time to beat you. Again I will insert Major Shockwave here. A) he is one big SOB B) he removes your opponents hand while giving you more cards in your hand. Another example of bigger is Optimus Prime Battlefield Legend, he is a big character but he generates so much advantage your opponent cant keep up or recover in time. This skill I learn because you have to be one or the other, you either build a deck to be faster and rely less on what your opponent is doing or you are bigger and your plan takes into account your opponent deck. If you ask most people I have helped build in person I ALWAYS ASK, how do you win? Or what is your win condition? It is because you have to have one you cant just say um....damage. Well then your are on the faster plan, so you build to be faster. Know how your deck wins before you decide how you want your deck to win because it is easy to say I win with damage, but put in Cosmos who does very little damage. Cosmos win condition would be on the bigger plan. Make a list of all decks end game so you know what is more common in the field, fast or bigger? Now you cannot build a deck to beat everything out there so you have to figure out what decks are you fighting and how do I beat them? What are the most popular decks out there? Show of hands how many people look online at tournament results? PS I cannot see you raise your hand but its a majority of people. So here is a secret most people don't know and something I learned from a very wise man. Most people build to beat those decks, don't build to beat those decks, build to beat next weeks deck. Mind blown and here's why. Most see results in other areas and either play those decks, or build to beat those decks. Here is the problem, if you build to beat them and don't play them then you will probably lose because you built too specific. Or you play those decks and play someone who built to beat you and lose. Now there is the chance you don't play someone who built to beat you and win but I don't like those odds. I look at those result and try to think ok people are seeing these results as well and what will they be playing because of it. See a small way to see the same results but view them differently.
Ok here is where I am going to leave you with some homework and that is to go back through this article and re-ask yourself these questions and write down the answers because we will be revisiting those answers here soon when we discuss the next step and that is deck building. I hope this was an informative article that helped you see the advantages in understanding your opponent and understanding what your up against.
